Latest Tweets

Your apps in your users’ languages

The number of mobile internet users in India is expected to reach 600 million by 2020 from 306 million in December, 2015. As per IAMAI, the mobile internet user base in rural India is growing faster than that in Urban India, fueled by infrastructure development, affordable devices and digital initiatives by the Indian government.

India has a literacy rate of 74% but only 10% of the population understands English. Considering the fact that less than 0.1% of the content on Internet is available in local languages, the need for it in India is immense.

In China, the only country with a comparable internet user base of 632 million, the entire internet ecosystem is built by focusing on the needs of non-English literate population. 8 out of 10 businesses of Alibaba Group are in local language and special emphasis has been given to languages which has resulted in higher internet adoption & user engagement. A McKinsey report suggests that by 2020, Internet will be responsible for 15-22% of productivity growth, will create 46 million jobs and will contribute to 7% of China’s GDP.

In India, thousands of app developers build for an overcrowded English-speaking market. However, there are immense opportunities outside the traditional English literate market segment, and there have been stellar growth stories of companies like Dailyhunt, Mocept Inc. and many others who grew phenomenally by going multi-lingual….

To read the full article, download the Developer’s Compass to the App Galaxy